Rules of the Society

Most societies have rules to define what thy are there for and who is eligible or responsible for things. Southampton Art Society is no different. Here are our rules as they were agreed at the 2001 AGM.

Title and Purpose

The Society shall be called The Southampton Art Society. The object of the Society is to further the interest of artists in the Southampton area and to provide opportunities for exhibiting their work.

Governance

Executive Committee

An Executive Committee shall govern the Society. The Executive Committee will comprise a Chairman, one Honorary Secretary, one Honorary Treasurer and six others, elected from the membership. Others may be co-opted to assist the committee as required. The election of the Executive Committee shall take place at the Annual General Meeting. The Officers of the Society are Chairman, Honorary Secretary, and Honorary Treasurer. Officers shall be elected for a three-year term, each Office being filled in succeeding years. At the expiry of a three-year term, Officers shall not normally be eligible for re-election to any Office for an interval of a year. If any Officer resigns, the member replacing them shall only serve for the unexpired portion of the three-year term. Executive Committee members, normally six, shall be elected or re-elected annually. Executive Committee members will be expected to undertake functions such as, Vice-Chairman, Membership Secretary, Exhibitions Secretary, and Outdoor Painting Co-ordinator. A quorum for Executive Committee meetings shall be five members including at least two Officers.

President and Vice President(s)

The President and Vice President(s) of the Society will be appointed after accepting an invitation from the Chairman and Executive Committee. The appointment of President and Vice President(s) will be for three-year terms, at the end of which time, they will be eligible for re-election for a further three years, if invited by the Society and if they wish to stand. Election will take place at the Annual General Meeting at the end of the term of their Office The duties of the President and Vice Presidents will be to further the aim of the Society and interests of its members.

Society Accounts

The accounts of the Society shall be made up to the end of the calendar year, audited independently and presented by the Treasurer at the Annual General Meeting. The accounts of the Society will be open to inspection by any member at the Annual General Meeting or the regular monthly meetings.

Membership

Membership will be open to all persons but the Executive Committee reserves the right to refuse or renew membership. Society members shall undertake to observe the rules of the Society.

Meetings

Society meetings shall normally be held on the first Monday of each month unless notified otherwise. Entrance to meetings shall normally be free to members. The Executive Committee may fix an entrance charge to members only at those times when there is any extraordinary cost by guest speakers, etc. to the Society, and only after giving reasonable notice to members. There shall be an entry charge for guests at Society meetings. At all meetings the Chairman's (or Vice Chairman, other Officer acting as Chairman for that meeting) ruling shall be final.

Annual General Meeting

The March meeting shall be the Annual General Meeting of the Society. A quorum at the Annual General Meeting shall be 20 members. Election of Officers and Executive Committee shall take place at the Annual General Meeting. Amendments to these Rules must be proposed and agreed by the Executive Committee, circulated to the membership at least 30 days before the Annual General Meeting and ratified at the following Annual General Meeting. The annual subscription shall be decided at the Annual General Meeting and shall be payable within 62 days of that date. Those joining after the 1st October shall pay half the subscription until the following Annual General Meeting.

Exhibitions

Types of Exhibition

The Society may organise both Members' Only and Open Exhibitions into which members can enter work. Open Exhibitions will allow those who are not members to enter works. Members shall normally be allowed to enter more works in Open Exhibitions than those who are not members of the Society.

Exhibition Fees

No work shall be accepted for Members' Only exhibitions unless the annual subscription has been paid. There shall normally be an Exhibition Fee charged for works entered in Society exhibitions. Exhibition Fees shall be fixed by the Executive Committee and may vary with members paying a lower entry fee than non-members.

Selection of Work

For Open Exhibitions, there may or may not be a Selection Committee established by the Executive Committee. Where there is a Selection Committee for members' work this shall include at least one independent observer. When the selecting process is for non-member's exhibits only, the composition of the Selection Committee will be at the discretion of the Executive Committee. The hanging of works shall normally be the responsibility of the Executive Committee who may nominate a Hanging Committee to arrange works for exhibition. Though there shall normally be no restriction on the number of works entered by a member, the Hanging Committee shall take into consideration the nature of the venue, available space and appearance of the exhibition. In the event of there being more works than reasonable space, some works may not be exhibited. The Hanging Committee or Selection Committee may reject works that they truly believe to be unsuitable for exhibition. Badly framed works, dangerous 3-dimensional objects, or works too large or ungainly for the balance of the exhibition will be rejected. Any works which may be deemed unlawful, or cause scandal or offence may be rejected. Some works may be reserved to replace those sold.

Sale of Work

This revision of the Rules was presented to and agreed by the Executive Committee on 18^th January 2001 and ratified by the Annual General Meeting on 5^th March 2001.